RICHMOND, Va. — Did you hear that train horn Tuesday morning in Richmond?
One viewer in Westover Hills told CBS 6 they could hear a train horn blaring from about 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.
Meanwhile, another viewer in Chester said they could hear a train horn for six minutes straight with all the windows in their house shut.
CBS 6 staff could hear the horn from our station in Scott's Addition, also for about six minutes.
With varying answers to the questions of "when," "where," and "how long," we reached out to CSX for the "why."
"A CSX locomotive experienced a horn malfunction while en route to Acca Yard in Richmond, Virginia," a spokesperson for CSX told CBS 6. "The issue has been resolved, and we apologize to local residents for any inconvenience."
While train horns are not uncommon in Richmond, it was the length of the noise that created the morning buzz on social media.
A similar situation unfolded in June 2019 when a CSX train horn pierced the 2 a.m. silence for about 10 minutes.
"The horn noise was the result of a train horn valve that was malfunctioning and has been fixed so that it is now operating properly," the spokesperson replied the next day. "We apologize for the disturbance that this may have caused to residents in the community."
The spokesperson said should an emergency occur on the tracks, CSX notifies local police.
Quiet Zones
While the Federal Railroad Administration has designated some areas as "quiet zones," that does not mean train horns will never blow.
"Engineers still maintain discretion to blow the horn in quiet zones if a person or vehicle is near the tracks," the spokesperson said as part of the 2019 interview. "CSX crews blow train horns for two reasons: it saves lives, and it’s required by law. Federal law mandates that freight train horns be sounded at crossings to alert motorists and pedestrians of approaching trains, which can take up to a mile or more to stop.
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